Tea at Sea
by n1t3sama
Summary: After Ba Sing Se, on a ship back to the fire nation, Mai observes Prince Zuko.


The scar was the least surprising change.

Zuko's topknot was gone. Still dressed like an earthbender, he was standing quietly sipping tea. He was slouching over a small earthenware cup, staring intently at the swirling tea leaves as though he wanted to shrivel up and join them in their tiny world.

In short, he was nothing like the boy prince she once knew, and ironically, the scar that she should have been startled to see, uncomfortable to look at, was the mark that reassured her that the young man in front of her was, in fact, Prince Zuko.

Mai had been reclining on a deckchair, lazily reading a book under the shade of a veranda and gazing at the calm ocean waves when Zuko had quietly appeared on the deck below. She wondered if he noticed her, and tried to get back to her book, but it was suddenly more boring than it had been before.

She wondered what he saw in those swirling tea leaves. She wondered what he was thinking. She wondered how it had been, all those years in exile, but she didn't ask. Mai was not one to ask unnecessary questions. She simply watched, emotionless, very unlike the young man she was observing.

She could see the side of his face, angry red marks gracing his once unblemished skin, eye squinted slightly with concentration, quiet despair written across his features.

He glanced sideways at her, and for a moment they locked eyes. The corner of his mouth turned up in the slightest and most fleeting of smiles before he took another sip of tea. Mai quickly broke the stare, looking another way. She wondered why he suddenly looked over, wondered if he could hear her racing pulse.

"Isn't it a little hot for tea, Prince Zuko?" she asked dryly, gesturing at the sun shining brightly in the sky. Those were the first words she had said to him in the four years she hadn't seen him_. Smooth, Mai, smooth_. She cursed herself. Was that the best she could do? Certainly in her daydreams there had been no need for awkward conversation.

"Some people say the light fragrance of jasmine tea is perfect for a warm day," Zuko replied, with a note of bitterness in his voice. Mai stared stupidly at him, despite herself. His voice was deeper and quieter, calmer than perhaps she had ever heard it, either when he was younger, or shouting in battle with Azula. Mai liked this new voice better.

She wondered what to say next. Somehow, _How is your uncle? _or _Are you excited to see the fire lord again after he banished you? _didn't seem like appropriate questions. Conversation was never her strong point, as she preferred to sit silently, watching others squirm. Well, now it was her turn to try not to squirm, with the sideways gaze of Zuko's scarred eye still on her.

He noticed her discomfort. A hint of the old anger and arrogance flashed through him. "Do I make you uncomfortable?"

_Yes. _"You've changed a lot, Prince Zuko."

He touched his scar and said bitterly, "Three years in exile would change most people."

_I didn't mean it in a bad way. _"I heard you worked in a tea shop," she said, changing the subject and allowing herself to smile as she pictured Zuko taking orders and making tea.

"Ty Lee was in the circus," he shrugged, as though to suggest that people had done stranger things.

"I sat at home, bored."

"Do you prefer it now, with the war around you?" Zuko asked, mockingly.

_I prefer it now, with you around. _"It's less boring now, I suppose."

"It makes sense that you're one of Azula's friends."

_What's that supposed to mean? _Strangely, Mai felt like he'd said something like that to her, a long time ago. And speaking of Azula, she suddenly called from the main deck below.

"Zuzu! What's taking you so long? Get down here!"

_Wait! _Mai expected some kind of anger, or reaction, from Zuko, or at least a "Don't call me Zuzu." Instead, Zuko closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, the earthenware cup briefly glowed with fire before crumbling into ash, which Zuko released into the wind.

"WELL? Are you coming?"

"Yes Azula," Zuko said wearily, "I'm coming."

Mai watched as the ashes of the cup of jasmine tea scattered into the ocean. It appeared Zuko had grown up.


End file.
